In the Matter of the

REPRESENTATION OF EMPLOYEES

of

DAKOTA, MINNESOTA & EASTERN RAILROAD

Maintenance of Way Employees

25 NMB No. 87

CASE NO. R-6489

DISMISSAL

May 21, 1998

The services of the National Mediation Board were invoked by the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes on February 7, 1997, to investigate and determine who may represent for the purposes of the Railway Labor Act, as provided by Section 2, Ninth, thereof, personnel described as "Maintenance of Way Employees," employees of Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad Company.

At the time this application was received, these employees were not represented by any organization or individual.

The Board assigned Mediator Samuel J. Cognata to investigate.

FINDINGS

The investigation disclosed that a dispute existed among the craft or class of Maintenance of Way Employees, and by direction of the Board, the Mediator was instructed to conduct an election by secret ballot to determine the employees' representation choice.

The ballots, in the first election, were mailed on April 3, 1997. The count was conducted on May 1, 1997.

On May 27, 1997, the Board found that a procedural error may have been outcome determinative and ordered a standard, re-run election. Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad Company, 24 NMB 281 (1997). The Board established a new mailing date of June 27 and set a new count date of July 27, 1997.

On June 13, 1997, and before the Board mailed the ballots in the re-run election, BMWE requested that the Board postpone the election and investigate allegations of election interference.

In response to BMWE's request, the Board postponed the election and conducted an investigation in the following months. On March 27, 1998, the Board found that the Carrier's actions did not taint the laboratory conditions. Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad Company, 25 NMB 302, 315 (1998). The Mediator was directed to conduct the re-run election previously ordered by the Board as soon as possible.

The following is the result of the re-run election as reported by Mediator Cognata who was assigned to count the ballots in this case.

Number of Employees Voting:

BMWE

Void	Number of Employees Eligible
Maintenance of Way Employees

31

2

80

The National Mediation Board further finds that the Carrier and employees in this case are, respectively, a Carrier and employees within the meaning of the Railway Labor Act, as amended; that this Board has jurisdiction over the dispute involved herein; and that the interested parties, as well as the Carrier, were given due notice of the Board's investigation.

On the basis of the investigation and report of election which establishes that less than a majority of eligible employees cast valid ballots in the election, the National Mediation Board finds no basis for certification and the application is, therefore, dismissed subject to Part 1206.4 of the NMB Rules.

By direction of the NATIONAL MEDIATION BOARD.

Stephen E. Crable

Chief of Staff